Love Lasts Forever
by JoMiSm
Summary: When Pepper was fresh out of college, she had an unplanned child and gave it up for adoption so that it could have a better life, unknowing that she would get a job at Stark Industries later. Now, seventeen years later, with HYDRA threatening everything Pepper cares about, all she wants is to protect that child she'd never really gotten over. Requested by Elena; pepperony, probably
1. Chapter 1

_**Elena (Elekat) had the brilliant idea for this story. I am writing it for her. I did a lot of research to determine the kid's age in comparison to Pepper and keep it canonical-ish, so have fun. **_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own the cover image, I don't own Marvel, I don't even own the idea for this fic.**_

**_BY THE WAY, IF YOU GET BORED DURING THIS LONG WALL OF BACKGROUND just skip to the bottom I mean it's just emotional buildup but I don't want anyone getting bored and leaving this fic over my over-background-ing._**

* * *

><p>Virginia Potts's life started out well. When she graduated from high school in her little town, she knew that it would be her only chance to see the world-once she hit college, she'd get a job, she'd be tied down with responsibilities. So, in a choice she couldn't bring herself to regret, she traveled for a couple of years, until she was twenty-one years old, nearly twenty-two. She saw the world. She learned a couple of languages, or at least enough phrases in some to get her where she needed to go. She enjoyed being rebellious and free and young.<p>

Then she went to college.

She went for a Masters in Business Administrations because, despite her travels, she was one of the most responsible people you'd ever meet and she was ready to put her skills to use. She'd seen her fill. She was ready to find a good job, maybe a good husband, and not have to worry about what foreign pillow her head would be resting on that night.

In the year of 1996, Virginia Potts was twenty-five, nearing twenty-six, and she was cramming for finals and stressing and crying and all of the college-y things that you do when she realized that she was going to walk the stage pregnant in a week. She was just leaving college, no job, hardly any money, no place to really stay, and she was pregnant. You couldn't even tell yet, but she knew, and when she took that diploma the tears on her face were not tears of joy, they were of worry for the future.

The father, who she'd been with for a little over a year, was no help at all. He showed his true colors and ran off, made even easier by the fact that they didn't share a school anymore.

She was alone.

* * *

><p><span><em>May, 1996, right after graduation<em>

_I can't tell anyone. _Virginia thought, hugging the last of her friends goodbye. _I don't want to be labelled as 'the chick who got knocked up at college.' _

So she told nobody, leaving the city of her Alma Mater probably for good and heading up to New York, where she was known by not a single soul.

It took her a little while to find a cheap enough apartment, but she did eventually manage to find one she could barely afford, even if it was the size of a shoebox. By day, she applied to tons of different jobs using her shiny-new degree in Business Administrations; by night, she stressed over the baby.

She couldn't abort it, she knew that much; it wasn't a danger to her health, it was just something unplanned and she wouldn't let her feelings get in the way of this child's life. Adoption seemed like the best option. Virginia hated to give up her baby, but she couldn't provide it with anything it needed. For goodness sake, her apartment had two rooms in it, and even then she was struggling to pay for it!

No, she wouldn't be selfish. She'd let this child have the life it deserved.

That doesn't mean it got any easier.

_June, 1996_

Virginia submitted an application to Stark Industries on a whim-they notified you months after you sent in the notification, and there was little to no chance of her getting it, but there was no harm in applying.

_July, 1996_

One of the rinky-dink little places she'd applied to accepted her application and she worked the nine-to-five every day for insanely low pay... but it was something.

_August, September, October, November... 1996_

Wake up. Go to work. Type. Calculate. Skip lunch over late papers. Work. Go home. Go to bed. Repeat.

_December 1996_

It was very obvious that she was pregnant now, but all of her coworkers were too polite to ask. Virginia worked through the holiday; she needed the money.

_January of 1997_

Virginia received a letter from Stark Industries saying she was among the final candidates for the job. To be honest, Virginia'd completely forgotten that she'd submitted an application.

_February 8, 1997_

At 10:01 in the morning, Gwyneth Marie Potts was born. Virginia had nobody but the doctors and nurses with her. Only one nurse dedicated himself to holding her hand and telling her that "Everything will be alright, sweetheart," even though she was aware that it would not be.

_March, 1997_

Virginia fought back tears every day of her life. When the clock hit 10:01 every day, she told herself "My child is a day older right now," and she kept a tissue handy.

_April, 1997_

She'd had enough of the constant reminders already. She couldn't walk into her own apartment without the empty vase, once holding Congratulations! flowers from a well meaning co-worker but now shoved to the side, taunting her. She still hadn't lost all the weight, and any clock at 10:01 became the object of her undoing. If she wasn't living in such a dangerous city, she might consider a bar or two.

For now? Working out would have to be the substitute; that's one thing she could have control of in her out-of-control life.

_May, 1997 _

Exactly one year after her graduation, Virginia was told she was one of the final four considered for the job at Stark Industries. With an open mind and a new pantsuit (the only one that fit her new in-shape body), she went to the interview.

Later in the month, she received the final letter from Stark Industries.

"Congratulations, Virginia-" She didn't even bother to read the rest of the letter.

She couldn't believe that she had made it. Out of all of those contestants, Stark Industries had chosen _her_. Broken, confused, recuperating _Virginia Potts_.

But they didn't know that. They only knew that she was smart, willing to work, and ready to put her all into their company.

This was exactly what she needed. A fresh start, a new life.

* * *

><p><span><em>Several years later...<em>

Virginia sat at her desk, one hand tangled in her hair in frustration. The numbers were not adding up. It was closing time, she was the only one left on her floor, and there was a colossal mistake in the budget. Someone have obviously forgotten to carry the one, and it ended up costing them over a million dollars. Or, rather, _would_ end up costing them million dollars if this went through.

It was up to her to fix it. This was not her job, to clean up after careless people. That was the job of somebody who has already gone home while Virginia put in the extra hours. With a sigh, she looked the name on the paper.

Anthony Stark.

She narrowed her eyes at the paper. It couldn't be a prank; that would get someone fired, putting the boss's name on something that he hadn't done. So that meant... Tony Stark had made a miscalculation.

Wasn't it Virginia's lucky day?

Usually, she would just take it to a superior's office, but everybody had already gone home. She would just have to take it to Tony herself.

Even knowing that was easier said than done, she still stood. She was tired of cleaning up other peoples' messes. He was going to fix his own mistake, and then she was going to go home, collapse into bed, and trudge back in tomorrow, just like every day. She had been here for too long to have to deal with this.

With her security card, she could make it pretty close to Tony's office, but she was stopped by guards before she made it all the way.

"You've got to let me see him," she said with false patience. "He made a mistake on the papers-"

The guards exchanged a look and shook their heads. Their boss make a mistake? They didn't think so. It was one of the worst excuses to get to Tony Stark that they'd ever heard.

"Please go back downstairs, Ma'am."

Virginia was fed up. "I will not go back downstairs! He will fix his own mistake, and then I will leave. You can't just expect me to-" The guards weren't listening again. With another look, they walked at her.

"You are kidding me, right?"

They didn't even bother responding.

"Don't you _dare_ touch me." Virginia growled. "I have pepper spray!"

They still ignored her words. Okay, two can play at this game. Virginia drew said pepper spray from her bag, marching toward them. She was half a second from making good on her promise when clapping from down the hall startled everyone into turning to look.

"Not every day somebody decides to singlehandedly take on my bodyguards." called a man which anyone in America could identify. Tony Stark walked toward them in a leisurely way.

Virginia straightened, shoved her pepper spray back in her bag, and brushed aside the security guard to walk toward him. "Not every day the boy-genius makes a miscalculation when I'm the only one around." she replied curtly, holding the papers out.

He took them, and looked at her red markings on the calculations. She was right.

"Ha. Would you look at that? First time anybody's corrected me on anything and been right about it." Tony looked at her, mildly impressed, and Virginia looked incredulously back. At that look, he laughed again, slinging his arm around her shoulders with the air of one who has never been refused for that. "I like you, Pepper. I'll have to keep you around."

In the middle of all of this craziness, the only thing she could think to say was "Pepper?"

"Yeah, as in the pepper spray." Before she could respond to this (she has a _name_), Tony called over his shoulder to his guards: "Hey! The PA spot's been filled!" and, leaving Virginia to wonder if all of this had really happened, flounced off down the hall.

Virginia stared after him. Pepper... she kind of liked the sound of that.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Here you go, Elena. I love you soooOOOOoooo much! :D <strong>_

_**-JoMiSm**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**For Elena. Specially posted so it's the first thing you see in YOUR New Year, you Canadian in a different time zone, you. **_

* * *

><p><em>A few months after the events of Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier. <em>

"Mister Stark, Miss Potts is requesting your presence in the living area." JARVIS said. Tony, for once in his life, actually put down what he was doing and started up the elevator. She was probably going to just tell him that he needed to fill out a form, or go to a meeting, but you never know.

As soon as Tony Stark walked into the room, Pepper ran over to him, in tears, gesturing to the TV. Her words were between shudders and gasps for air. "Tony. Oh, God, Tony."

"Pep?" He sounded alarmed. "What- What's wrong, what's-?" He turned up the television, the cause of her being upset.

It was a list of several brutal murders, now found to be related. All were of children or teenagers, and all were by those who had an association with SHIELD. Pepper knew some of the last names, knew who else was crying right now.

"It-it's HYDRA, th-they're assassinating kids of people associated with SH-SHIELD..." Tony was _still _very alarmed, as this was the hardest he'd ever seen Pepper cry.

"And you think they associate us with SHIELD, because of New York and who my dad was and my designs for them..." He could go on, but he saw that he'd found the right thing, or, at least, _part _of the right thing.

She nodded.

"But I haven't got any kids, no little cousins, no nieces or nephews-and you haven't, either." Tony sounded reassuring, but that only made her slump into his shoulder. He'd liked this shirt before- and it would be ruined by the water, dang it- but Pepper was a little more important to him. He didn't push her away; he put his arm around her.

She shook her head no.

"Pep? What do you mean, no?" He started to remove his arm (dang it dang it don't try sweet gestures dANG IT) but she lifted her head.

She sniffled. "No, that's not what I- your arm is fine, Tony, it's not that. It's..."

And suddenly she was afraid. This confession, this was _exactly _the type of thing that would get Tony to run for the hills.

His face softened, and her fears dissolved a little bit. She took a deep breath. "I mean, no. No, you were wrong. I do... I do have a daughter."

Tony was silent, and she watched his face, trying to judge his thoughts. "Wh... What? When did this happen?"

He was taking it better than she'd dared to hope for. "I was graduating from college when I found out I was pregnant. I had her three months before I came to work here."

"So she's... Seventeen? Where have you been hiding a seventeen year old, Pepper?" He still didn't sound angry (thank God- She didn't think she could deal with angry-Tony) but he did sound confused and, actually, a little concerned.

She drooped a little. "I haven't."

Tony was _still _unclear on her meaning. Had he just been an exceptionally bad person and not noticed her daughter? EVER?

"Tony, I gave her up for adoption." she whispered. Shame. Totally ashamed.

Tony blinked- this was another surprise- but he reigned in his questions. "Can I just hear the whole story, please?"

So, with a sigh, she summarized. "When I was twenty-six, I had just graduated college and found out I was pregnant. I was ashamed, so I didn't tell anybody else, not even my parents- except the father. He was completely sweet to me... until he heard the news. He split; I haven't heard from him since. I moved up here, got an awful job, nearly worked myself to death, and I still could barely afford a tiny little shoebox of an apartment. I woke up every day, and I looked around, and one day I just knew that I couldn't raise a child here, not with hardly enough money to feed myself. So that's it; I wanted to give her a better life, so I gave her up. She was born on February eight, '97, and she was beautiful and perfect and I named her Gwyneth Marie. I sent her off with her parents, and I cried every day after that. Threw myself into my work. Tried not to look back. Then I got the letter from Stark industries, and you know the rest from there."

"Oh, Pepper." he murmured. "I'm... so sorry, I-" He was bad with words sometimes. Really, really bad. So, instead, he reached over and pulled her to him. They sat that way for a few minutes, her feeling like she was about to shatter and him just trying to hold them both together.

Finally, he spoke again. "You might have done her a real favor, though." he said. "Now she doesn't have, really, any association with you."

"Except," Pepper replied, her voice heavy. "For the SHIELD records."

"They knew, and I didn't?"

"No, Tony, it's not like that- I put her on there so she'd be protected, so they could keep an eye on her for me. And now, HYDRA has those files."

There was silence once again. He was thinking through all the possibilities, and he could not find one that worked. "I'd say our best shot would be to go get her, put her here with the best security I can find, but if you don't know where she is, I don't know how to help."

"I might know." Pepper said cautiously. Tony raised an eyebrow. "They sent me a letter a few years ago, and it had a return address on it. Maybe JARVIS can use the info..."

"I'll get right on it." Tony said. "We'll find her. I promise."

* * *

><p><em>Several hours later<em>

Gwen glared at her desk from across the room. In that drawer, to the left, underneath the folder of homework that she'd finished, was a pair of concert tickets. Concert tickets that she had paid for herself. A concert that she had been promised months ago- one that she had been looking forward to, saving up for, for months.

One that she was now, apparently, not going to.

Her mother divorced her father when she was about seven years of age, and she had ended up with her father.

Her father took business trips often, was in his home-office even more often, and was content with hardly seeing his daughter most of the time- until, _apparently, _that daughter wanted _passionately _to go to this thing which she had been told she could go to.

"You can't just- You can't just change your mind!" she'd sputtered, and he had just adjusted the glasses on his nose and sighed.

"Of course I can. I am your father, I'm the adult, and I say that you can _not _go to that concert." He was still wearing his tie, still surrounded by his paperwork. He would go right back to working as soon as she was upstairs.

"But I _saved up _for that! I put away money for months, I didn't buy the clothes I wanted, I made do with old shoes-"

He scoffed. "Gwyneth Marie Clark, you have never wanted for a thing in your life!"

Gwen reddened. He had no idea, absolutely _no idea; _she had stood out from the others at school by not wearing the popular clothes and the popular shoes and she had been laughed at and _he literally had no idea _and he felt like he was able to speak on this subject with authority.

Her voice was very quiet, and very, _very _biting. "You would not know," she enunciated. "You're always at work, in your work, doing your work, 'busy, Gwen,' 'can't talk, Gwen.' And _now _you decide to actually make a decision in my life. I'm seventeen, eighteen in February. _It's a little too late._"

He was shocked, and angry. "Gwen-"

But it was too late. She was running up the stairs, and her door slammed. He yelled up at her to get back downstairs, she yelled back that that would happen when he could keep his promises. He stomped up the stairs, pounded on the door. "Unlock this door right _now_, Gwen!"

"I _hate _you!" she spat in response. "Go away."

There was silence for a few moments, and she heard shuffling away from her door, the gentle creaking of the stairs as he crept down them. Her words had hit their mark.

And now she was glaring at her desk.

_He promised me months ago, but I suppose he wasn't really listening. He was probably just waving me off like always. _

Those tickets, one for her and one for her best friend, now going to waste, too late to return them.

_He _always _does this. It's just like the sleepovers, the nights out with my friends. It's always yes... right up until the last second, when he finally decides to _listen, _just long enough to ruin things for me. _

'Best friend.' Hah. More like, only friend. It's hard to have a bunch of friends when you're never allowed out of the house.

_I guess that's why I stopped asking, started just staying in. Stopped hoping. _

Just Stacey, the only one who was completely cool with her dad, who understood and really just didn't care- only Stacey stuck around.

_Because when I finally get my hopes up... _

"Agh!" she dropped her head to her knees. Seventeen years of being trapped here, seventeen years of him not being there for her until it was to ruin her fun, seventeen years of keeping her problems to herself along with anything else.

And she'd gone along with it, all this time.

She looked over at her phone. She was literally the only person in the school with a flip phone, but her father had said- you guessed it- no, when she asked for one. She'd paid for it herself, and paid the phone bill every month. There was a waiting message from Stacey.

**Hey, what'd your dad want? **

Gwen's last message had been 'brb, my dad's calling me.'

She sighed. Stacey was looking forward to going to this, but Gwen had both the ticket and the ride.

She typed out her reply. _You'll never guess what he said. _

The reply was almost instantaneous. **Oh my god, he didn't. **

_He did. _

**What are you gonna do? **

Gwen looked again at her desk, then back at her phone. It was a bad decision. She wasn't the type to make bad decisions.

Then again, she was seventeen and had always followed her dad's rules... Maybe living a little wasn't such a bad thing.

_Be ready for me to pick you up. _

Gwen was no fool; she knew her father would be in the living room, just waiting for her to leave, or try to.

**Bad-girl Gwen. Hey, I'm into it. **

Despite herself, Gwen grinned. _Just gotta actually sneak out first. _

**Hey, no prob. Leave your door locked, you should be fine till morning. **

_Wow. You seem to know a lot. _

**You're not the only one with a strict dad. **

Gwen grabbed for her bag, pulling open the drawer and tossing the tickets in. After her phone was slipped in her pocket and her little bit of spending money was in the bag, she was ready to go.

She walked over to her window, wiping her palms on her jeans nervously. How does one break out of their own house?

She lifted her window. Well, that was nice- there wasn't a screen, and there was a roof to step out on, so it could be easier than she'd thought.

Carefully, she climbed out, crouching on the shingles. She looked around. There was no clear path from here. She scootched toward the edge and looked down. It was too far to jump. She looked around again- _come on, there's gotta be a way... Oh. _The tree. It was just too far to reach...

"Am I seriously about to do this?" Her words, though muttered, were loud to her own ears.

And she knew the answer: yes. Yes, she was.

Shakily, she stood, and judged the distance. It wasn't going to be too hard if she could just get herself to jump.

"Okay. Okay. I can do this." She glanced around one last time, looking for an alternate route, but there was none. "Okay. Three. Two. One. Jump." And she jumped.

For a scary moment, she was certain that she would miss and fall. She held in her scream and let out a breath when she grabbed the branch. Safety. Climbing down was a piece of cake; she'd climbed this tree dozens of times as a kid.

Sneaking past the window to the living room, she peeked in with caution. Her father was there, as expected. And... he wasn't working. Gwen ducked down again. She couldn't risk investigating. It wasn't worth it. She was _going _to this concert, even if it was on the principle of the darned thing.

It wasn't difficult to get around to the driveway, and she got into her car without shutting the door all the way to avoid being caught. She drove away as quietly as she could, not quite believing that she was actually driving away as she escaped down the road.

She flipped open her phone and hit speed-dial 1. Stacey picked up almost immediately. "Hey, you make it?"

"I jumped onto a _tree, _Stace." Gwen responded, opening and closing her door firmly at the stop sign on the corner.

"Hey, good for you. Finally living a little."

"I'm on my way now. It should only be a few minutes." Gwen said, suppressed excitement in her voice. Look at her. Doing teenager-y things, like an actual legitimate rebellious teenager. Woo-hoo.

"Alright. I'll be waiting outside."

With a little smile, Gwen flipped her phone shut. This was going to be a great adventure.

* * *

><p>A dark, unmarked car pulled up to the front of Gwen's house.<p>

"It looks nice." Tony said, optimistic.

"Better than I could've done." Pepper agreed, opening her door.

Tony looked over the top of the car at her after he climbed out. "You know, you don't have to be nervous-"

"I'm not nervous!" she protested immediately. Tony walked over to her side.

"Of course you aren't." he said. Not worth pushing the issue, not right before they went inside. "Let's go."

They walked up the driveway. It had well-trimmed grass, a big tree in the front yard, little solar lights lining the drive. Pepper glanced over at the tree even as she strolled purposefully up to the door. Gwyneth had probably played there when she was little, swinging from its branches, jumping down to the ground as she pretended she could fly.

_And she'd missed it. _

Tony knocked on the door firmly. Pepper straightened her blouse, taking a breath. _Be businesslike, Pepper. Stay calm, stay focused._

The door opened slowly. "Ah, hello?" It was a man, looking rather awkward and a tad bit frightened. Well, they were two strangers at his door after dark, to be fair.

Tony started. "Yes, hello. I'm Tony Stark." Tony held out his hand to shake, and the man took it. He still looked slightly puzzled, like he couldn't process what was happening.

Tony looked over at Pepper. "And I'm Virginia Potts." He shook her hand as well. "You may remember me, vaguely. I'm the biological mother of Gwyneth."

* * *

><p>Stacey ran down to the car, hopping in the passenger seat with a grin and a wave. "Go, go, before <em>my <em>dad changes his mind!" Gwen started on her way again, laughing.

"_God, _your dad has no chill, does he?" Stacey asked, propping her feet on the dash. It wasn't Gwen's car, anyway; she didn't care. Let her leave scuff marks on it.

"Absolutely none." Gwen agreed, looking both ways before going through an intersection. "Could you fasten your seatbelt?"

Stacey sighed, fastened her seatbelt, and continued the conversation. "I mean, he works non-stop. You have one of the nicest houses of anybody at the school. And yet, who bought your clothes? Your phone? Pays your phone bill? Your school trips, your school books, your _everything?_"

"Me." sighed Gwen. It was immensely difficult to find a job in this town, and even harder to find one that fit around school hours. Hers did not pay enough for all the things she needed. She'd had to put off buying books for school for almost a month, sharing with people and pretending she was really forgetful.

"And _what _is his stupid reasoning?" Stacey prompted, looking over at Gwen.

"It'll build character," she mocked. "Teach you the value of a dollar."

"More like," Stacey said, "'Turn you into a work-a-holic, just like me!'"

They laughed, but it was to cover the actual feelings of the moment. Gwen refused to feel anything but happy tonight. It was going to be one of the best in her life.

* * *

><p>Tony, Pepper, and Gwen's father sat in the living room. Pepper had only just nearly finished explaining, and he wasn't really responding, just looking blankly at her as she spoke.<p>

"-And, really, I'd just like to protect her." she finished.

Tony and Pepper both looked at him, and he seemed to think it over. With a sigh, he gestured upstairs.

"She's up there," he said, "But she just got through arguing with me. She won't come out of her room."

"May I...?" Pepper asked.

"By all means."

Pepper started up the stairs, her heart racing. For the first time in over seventeen years, she would see her daughter. Gwen'd probably hate her, probably blame her for leaving her here. Maybe she felt abandoned. Pepper was, though she hated to admit it to herself, very nervous.

She knocked on the door at the top. There was no answer. "Gwyneth? Gwen? May I speak with you, please?" Still, no answer. Tony walked up the stairs slowly, standing behind Pepper.

"She's gone." he said.

"No, she's in there- she just won't come out." Pepper replied, knocking again.

Tony shook his head. "No, there's a strong draft coming from under that door, and it's too irregular to be from an AC. Twenty bucks said she ran out the window, left it open."

"Tony..."

"Are you doubting my sneak-out skills?"

Finally, after calling "We're coming in, okay?", Pepper agreed to let Tony pick the lock. He did so in a matter of seconds using a small device. The door swung open.

Just as Tony knew, just as Pepper feared... the window was open, the curtains blowing in the wind.

* * *

><p><em><strong>VICTORY! I LOVE YOU! HAPPY 2k15! <strong>_

_**Love,**_

_**JoMiSm**_


End file.
